Run & Hide
by thisxgirlxlovesxrice
Summary: "Listen, if you want to escape reality for a bit longer we can stay here a bit longer. You gotta face reality sooner or later and I have a feeling you wanna go with later" he explained as he patted the empty space beside him. - Maya Hart meets a new friend who's helping her look at life a little differently. [Maya x Stiles]
1. Chapter 1

**Run and Hide**

i. ski-lodge

"okay." Maya looked over at Lucas he walked away from Riley.

"Lucas, I'm not allowed to talk?" Riley asked.

"Sure you can. You can talk to whoever you want to Riley" he said simply before walking away.

Maya watched him as he walked away. A feeling of hurt washed over like cold water. It radiated from her chest to her throat and suddenly she was finding it hard to breathe. She quickly walked away in the opposite direction as Lucas, ignoring the calls of her best friend. Her feet led her out of the lodge, down the steps of the front porch of the lodge. They continue to lead her down the paved pathway.

Maya had no idea where she was going but all she knew was that she had to get out of the lodge, get away from Riley and Lucas, and get some space from everyone who knew the situation she was in. She didn't want their judgements and she definitely didn't want to hear any of their input. They talked around her like she wasn't aware of what was going. She hated that people were talking about them and she hated the situation she was placed in.

Her feet continued to move fast down the path, she found herself turning whenever she felt like it. Thirty minutes of mindless wondering, Maya found herself in front of a beautiful lake. The area was surrounded by trees and different types of paths that lead to who knows where. She walked further into the open area. Seeing that this area was covered heavily in grass. there was one particular tree that was huge and was at the edge of the lake.

The trees around her were slowly losing leaves. The colors of the trees were different due to being in different stages. It was really a beautiful sight, but what left her breathless was the view of the lake.

The mountains could be seen on the other side of the lake. They were brown and covered in trees with different hues of reds, greens, and browns. The trees around here were mostly in different hues of red and orange. The lake in front of her was crystal blue. The reflection of the trees were clearly shown on the lake. The giant tree was losing a lot more leaves than any of the other trees that surrounded them. The leaves were mostly red and orange while the ones that had fallen on the floor were already dark hues of brown and red.

It was beautiful sight. She desperately wished she had a canvas and paint to capture this beautiful sight. She took a deep breathe at the scenery. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her denim vest.

"Hi, Maya right?" a voice called out.

Maya jumped and quickly turned around to face the person calling out for her. She blinked a couple of times trying to snap out of her daze. "Hi." Maya said cautiously.

The person in front of her was way taller than she was. He had dark brown hair pushed up and messy. He had light honey brown eyes and a very big friendly smile. He had a dark blue denim jacket and black pants paired with the same boots she had on.

"I'm one of the chaperon's in the group. I'm Josh's friend from NYU." he explained, his hands shoved into his own denim jacket. "I'm Stiles." he introduced. "I saw you walking out and I wanted to make sure you were good."

"I'm good, you can go back and-" Maya was interrupted by Stiles.

"I actually don't know where we are considering I was following you and making sure you didn't fall into a ditch" he explained. "You kind of ran out of the lobby pretty quick. I told Topanga and Cory that I would watch over you, you were gone pretty quick and I thought I lost you" he explained.

Maya looked around and where they were. "I have no idea where we are either." Maya said honestly as she squinted her eyes to try and find something that looked familiar to her. She was so consumed by thoughts and feelings, she had no idea where she was headed she just wanted a place to head out.

"Oh" Stiles said rubbing the back of his neck. "This is not going to end well is it? I'm not even getting paid but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be fired"

Maya laughed a little at his remark. "You didn't have to follow me out here" Maya stated facing the brown hair boy. "I can take care of myself."

"Right but this is a school trip and technically speaking, you're my responsibility since I am the chaperon" Stiles stated. Maya raised an eyebrow at him questionably. "I don't doubt you can handle yourself considering you didn't get caught into any ditches while I got caught into three."

Maya laughed again, she shook her head. "Well then, we should probably head back Mr. Chaperon" Maya said before turning her back to him to look at the view one last time. "Too bad I won't find this view again." Maya said as she looked back at the breathe-taking view.

"It is a pretty good view." Stiles said as he walked beside her, staring at the same view.

"It's calming and it's therapeutic." Maya stated, breathing in the fall air.

"You can see the change from summer to fall" Stiles pointed out as he pointed to the tree. The tree had different hues of red and orange leaves. Surrounding the tree was fallen leaves with darker hues of red and brown. A couple of the leaves had fallen into the lake. "It's nice that it shows how change can beautiful"

Maya didn't take her eyes off of the tree that was dropping leaves of different hues. She walked closer to the tree, crunching fallen leaves with her boots. A sad smile came to her face. "It's also sad." Maya said as she looked at her feet.

"The trees wilting away, losing the leaves it spent all spring growing." Stiles added. Maya squinted her eyes in part confusion and part daze. She turned her head to look behind her to see Stiles staring off to the lake. Stiles was engrossed at the lake, his hands still in his pockets. "What?" Stiles asked as he looked over to her, feeling her stare.

"You read my mind." Maya stated. "It's just weird you understood."

Stiles chuckled. "Not that weird Maya." he said grinning. "Come on, we better head back."

Maya sighed as she nodded, kicking her boot into the dirt. "I guess so, can't escape reality forever." she spoke to no one in particular.

Stiles stared at her sad face for a couple of seconds before plopping himself to the floor, sitting down cross legged. Maya stared at him with her head tilted to the side in confusion. "Listen, if you want to escape reality for a bit longer we can stay here a bit longer. You gotta face reality sooner or later and I have a feeling you wanna go with later" he explained as he patted the empty space beside him.

Maya smiled down at him before walking over to him, taking a seat beside him. "So, what made decide to come here to watch a couple of high school freshmen's learn about mother nature?" Maya asked staring back at the breath-taking view.

Stiles chuckled. "I started NYU in the fall. I live in the same hall as Josh and we have psychology together. He wanted someone to accompany him on this trip and I offered. I needed to get away anyways" He answered honestly. Maya looked over at him, scrunching her eyebrows together like she was trying to read him. "What?"

"What did you want to get away from?" Maya asked interested, keeping the same face.

Stiles grinned as he shook his head before making eye contact with the blonde. "How about this, you tell me what you're running away from and I'll tell you what I'm running away from." Stiles stated as he stared at the blonde.

Maya refused to break eye contact, she bit her lip nervously trying to figure out how much information she should say to this stranger. "I'm this triangle, you see, with Riley - she's my best friend and Josh's niece- and Lucas - he's a cowboy." Maya started, she started to look down on the dirt floor and draw random things into the dirt. "We've been in this triangle for a while and long story short. I already know who he chose. I already knew from the beginning. Who was I to kid myself that he would ever like me, that any guy would ever like me." Maya blushed slightly once she realized she was being too honest with a stranger. "He chose her, I mean he had to chose her. I wasn't being myself, I was being her when he started to have feelings for me so obviously he likes her. I mean I don't know how much you saw but he got pretty angry when he found out she was talking to someone else, talking to another guy that isn't here. Meanwhile, he never feels that way with me because it's clear that he has more feelings for her than me and I guess I'm running away from the answer, that he finally chose her." she trailed off releasing a big huff of air.

Maya didn't look up after confessing. She continued to repeatedly trace over the shapes she had drawn on the floor. "So yeah.." she mumbled, releasing another gust of air she was keeping in. "Your turn Stiles." Maya looked over at Stiles who was staring at her. He turned his head and stared at the glistening lake.

"I was in love with this girl since the third grade. She was like my dream girl. The girl of everyone's dreams really. She was smart and beautiful and she was what I've always wanted. I literally idolized this girl. Anyways, we started off as friends during high school cause our groups merged together and well we always worked well together. We knew what we needed from each other and we were always there for each other through all of her bad relationships and the one I had before her. Anyways, eventually we hit it off, we ended up together a month before graduation. But.." he trailed off, chewing the inside of his cheek like he was afraid to admit it out loud. "Long distance is harder than it seems. We're at a rough patch right now. I mean we used to work well together but lately we aren't working that well anymore. I guess I'm running away from whatever is going wrong in our relationship. Josh offered to have me come with him and I figured why not. Get in one with nature and what not, thinking about what to do and what to expect when I get back to the dorms"

"Well what do you think so far" Maya asked, looking back at him.

"I think I don't ever wanna face the possibility where she's not in my life." Stiles admitted. "I don't know how I would continue the world without having her in my life whether it's as a friend or as a girlfriend. I just need her there."

"Then you tell her" Maya said simply. "You tell her how important she is to you and if it's really worth it, you'll get over the slump"

Stiles smiled slightly at the blonde freshmen. "What about you?" he asked. "What are you thinking of?"

"I'm thinking that this is an insanely beautiful view and that I never want to leave. I never want to go back to that lodge or back to watch Lucas fall in love with Riley. I don't want to go back to being Riley's troublesome best friend or the girl that Lucas didn't pick. I don't wanna go back feeling the way I do. I just want to keep being here, with this view." Maya admitted honestly. She released a sigh. "I never want to hurt her. I would never put myself in a position to hurt Riley and I never want something that was hers."

"If you didn't want something that was hers, then why would you try and be her?" Stiles asked, glancing over at the blonde who scrunched her eyebrows together in thought. He realized she had done that a lot when she was trying to process something.

"I-I don't know." she muttered. "Riley's always had it good. I mean, her parents were Cory and Topanga. They were childhood lovers and married since they were like three. Her parents were there for her. Her little brother adored her. Her entire family was so loving and supportive and I wanted something like that." she released a sigh. "My dad left when I was seven and after he left, I never really saw much of my mom. She was always working and I thought she had to do with him leaving." Maya explained. "I'm sort of broken in a way and Riley had spent so much of my life trying to fix me and make me happy and make me have hope. I guess I wanted what she had so bad, I became her..."

"You know what that sounds like?" Stiles asked, Maya looked over at him. "It sounds like complete crap." he even laughed at the idea. "You're basically saying that your growth and development as a freshmen in high school was turning into your best friend. Maya, you're in high school. You're growing up, that's just how life goes. You change for the better with good and bad influences."

"I didn't stand on a teacher's desk for months, I haven't been in detention, I was getting good grades-" Maya was interrupted by Stiles who fell on his back laughing. Maya pouted. "Hey! I'm being serious"

Stiles sat up, his laughter dying down a little. "You becoming a good student and trying to get your future together isn't you becoming your best friend. That's you trying to improve your life. Who even came up with the idea that you were becoming her?"

"Riley" Maya answered. Stiles stopped laughing and looked at the young blonde. "What?"

"You doing better and acting different isn't a bad thing Maya," Stiles stated. "And you're not broken for not having the perfect family like theirs. There's so many parents that are divorced, separated,-"

"It just sucks when there's perfect families surrounding you and all you have is your own" Maya explained. "I haven't spoken to my dad in a year and I couldn't forgive him for leaving and I couldn't forgive him for the pain he caused me, even though I know I should."

"Listen, I know all about that okay. I've grown up seeing perfect families all around and the older I got the more I realized that family is a little weird in a sense where it doesn't stop at a mom or a dad. My best friend is someone that I consider family. I consider My girlfriend family. I only have a dad and we're a family." Stiles explained. "The older you get, the more you realize all the stuff you see around you changes and your perspective on how you see things change."

"Wha happened to your mom?" Maya asked looking back at the lake.

"She died when I was a kid." Stiles stated.

"Do you miss her?" Maya asked.

"Every damn day" he answered with a sigh.

A comfortable silence was shared between them as they both enjoyed the final view of the lake. The sun was starting to set. They had been out here for a while talking about their lives, confiding in each other what they've been too scared to share with anyone else. They both knew it was almost time to go.

"Maya?"

"Yeah?"

Stiles looked at her and raised an eyebrow at her. "Is this helping you?" he asked.

Maya bit the inside of her cheek and exhaled. "Not as much as I want it to" she admitted honestly. "But this view and talking with you is _slightly_ helping."

Stiles smiled. "I'm helping you?"

" _Slightly helping_ " Maya clarified.

"Still helping" Stiles replied back with a shrug. "You're slightly helping me too." he admitted. "What are you going to do when you go back to the lodge?" Stiles asked looking over at her.

The smile on Maya's face faded away. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to think. "I'll guess we have to find out"


	2. Chapter 2

**Run and Hide**  
ii. story time

The walk back was an eventful time for the two newly made friends. As they continued their journey back to the lodge, they shared more personal and deep thing about each other. Maya told Stiles the entire story of how the triangle came to be, how she had and might possibly still have a crush on Josh, how her mother and Shawn came to be, and how her art was going. Stiles told her about his mother's death, his father's work habits, his best friends back at home, his ex girlfriend, and his own personal demons he had to face with losing one of his best friends.

In one day, the two seemed to know everything important that has happened in each other's lives. It was strange for Maya to open up to someone she just met when it was already hard for her to open up to the people who've known her for years. Even though the two did get along, the duo did have some bumps on the road back to the lodge. Stiles was determined he was going the right way while Maya was determined he was going the wrong way. They had multiple misturns and multiple pit stops resulting in slight disasters. The adventure to the way back to the lodge was definitely one for the books and it was an adventure that Maya enjoyed.

By the time they finally reached the lodge, the sun was gone exposing the bright and shining stars. The air was slightly cold. The porch light to the lodge was light and the lights were on and could be seen through the window.

Maya had entered the lodge in a semi-heated debate with her newly found friend who tailed behind her. "I told you! I knew that tree looked familiar" Maya argued as she marched her way inside the lodge. Her green cargo pants were covered in brown dirt and mud stains. Her boot were completely covered in dirt and grass. Her hair was disheveled with dirt stains covering the majority of her upper half like she tripped into a pile of mud.

Following behind her in a similar state was Stiles. His jeans were covered in dirty and his white T-shirt was completely brown with parts of his original shirt showing. His denim jacket was wrapped around Maya. His hair was covered in mud along with parts of his face. Between the two of them, Stiles was in much worse shape.

"That's what you said about the last one and we almost got mauled by a bear!" Stiles argued back, marching right behind her. "I at least got us to the right direction most of the time." he said smiling proudly at no one in particular causing Maya to stop and roll her eyes.

"Stiles" Maya said, pausing for dramatic effect then turned around to face him. "You fell into three ditches within fifteen minutes, the fact that you're here in one piece is a miracle" Maya commented. "So I don't think it was your 'clever direction skills' as you so put it" Maya said putting air quotes.

"How is it that I fall into every ditch" Stiles started, scrunching his face in thought, "but you don't fall into one?" Stiles asked throwing his hands in the air like he was asking the universe. Maya laughed at his response but was suddenly pulled into a very tight hug.

"Peaches!" Riley called out. She had limped over to Maya while she was talking to Stiles. Embracing her in a very tight hug not caring that the dried up mud was getting on her orange sweater. "We were so worried about you! You were gone for a long time!"

"A very long time." Cory added, approaching the two suspiciously. His arms were crossed as he eyed the boy he just met cautiously.

Josh walked over, looking over at his friend. "What happened out there?" he asked, glancing up and down at the two.

Maya used her thumb to point to Stiles who was beside her. "Stiles fell into nine ditches, almost hits a bees nest, and almost fell off a cliff."

Stiles used his thumb to point to Maya who was beside her in the same exact manner. "Maya almost got us mauled by a vicious bear, tried to feed me poisonous berries, and stole my jacket" Stiles added.

"It was a cub, not even a bear!" Maya defended, putting her hands to her sides before glaring at him.

"When there's a cub, there's a mama bear. Don't you watch television women?" Stiles argued. The two were moving from the door way to the loft where everyone was sitting and listening into their conversation.

"What's the worst that could have happened?" Maya asked rolling her eyes at the overly dramatic Stiles. "I would have pushed you and ran to safety." Stiles gasped offendedly while putting a hand over his chest. "You're my chaperon, my safety is more important than yours." Maya reminded him, using what he had told her hours ago.

Stiles glared at her for a split second before taking a seat by the fireplace. "I need a raise." he announced to Josh and Cory who followed the two. Josh chuckled at his response as he took a seat on the empty seat beside Stiles.

"You don't get paid" Maya reminded him again as she walked over to him. Stiles scooted over which Maya took a sign to sit down.

"I should get paid for dealing with you" Stiles commented. Maya shoved him a little to settle into her seat better, rolling her eyes at his comment.

"Well you two seemed like you had an eventful time." Zay added, looking at the two covered in dirt. "You two were gone all day."

"She had no idea where she was headed when she went out so the way back was worse" Stiles explained glaring at the short blonde who rolled her eye at that comment. "I'm lucky to be alive right now." Stiles added.

"Hey you were the one who decided to pick at a bee's nest which is why we had to run and almost fall off a cliff" Maya claimed as she glared at him.

"I only picked at the bee's nest because your shoe flew off and landed beside it!" Stiles defended.

"Yeah because you pulled me into the death mud trap with you" Maya rebutted as she pointed to her entire outfit.

"That sounds like quite the adventure." Smackle added nodding her head. "It seems like you've gotten what you wanted Maya. Adventure in a relationship." she nodded her head.

"Smackle, they're not in a relationship" Lucas finally spoke up. At this point, everyone was staring at him. He was leaning on the doorway watching their interaction since they entered the lodge. Maya stared at him trying to get a read on him but it was hard for her to understand how he was feeling.

"It was still a pretty eventful adventure since I've moved here." Stiles admitted. Maya looked over at Stiles and smiled brightly at him. "Thank you for the odd and strange adventure Maya. Hope you learned a lot about nature."

"Well let's see. I learned that not all the leaves want to change colors, ditches are almost everywhere, bees nest are not to be messed with, calmly walk away when you see bears," she listed on her fingers. "Sounds like this trip was eventful of me" Maya nodded with a bright smile on her face.

"You two look like you need to be hosed down." Topanga commented as she covered her nose dramatically. "The two of you need to go shower before we eat dinner" she said pointing the both of them upstairs.

* * *

Maya sighed as she got out of the shower. Her entire body was now completely clean. All the mud and dirt that was stuck in her hair was now gone. Riley was waiting for her patiently outside of bathroom, probably wanting to hear her 'adventure' with Stiles. Maya definitely wanted to know what happened after she left the lodge. She put on a pair of dark brown khaki pants and a black long sleeve shirt, putting a fleece black and blue plaid vest over the black long sleeve. She brushed wet and clean hair. Braiding them into two dutch braids.

Content with her looks, she opened the door. Jumping back when she noticed Riley and Smackle standing directly in front of the doorway like they were waiting for her to step out any minute. Smackle stood there beside Riley, trying to mimic the goofy smile Riley always had on her face. To Maya, it looked adorable that Smackle was trying to pry information out of her like Riley usually did.

"Peaches" Riley said smiling intensely.

"Honey" Maya replied back in a cautious tone. Maya eyed at her best friend weirdly as she stepped around her.

"He's a good looking guy" Smackle said out loud, nodding her head vigorously. Maya looked over her shoulder at Smackle with a confused look on her face. "I would drop Lucas and Josh and go after that fine fella!" Smackle said bluntly with a smile.

"Wait, what?" Maya stopped what she was doing to fully look at Smackle. Her facial expression not changing. "What are you talking about?" Maya had asked.

"Josh's friend" Smackle replied in a duh tone. "He's how you and most girls would describe a hunk!"

Maya laughed at the statement before looking back at Smackle. "Stiles? Really? It's not going to work out, he's the same age as Josh and he has a girlfriend" Maya said looking at the two.

"Well how do you feel about him?" Riley asked, stepping closer to her friend.

Maya laughed again, shaking her head at the fact that this was an actual conversation. "I just met the guy Riles. I don't have any feelings for him." Maya explained, crossing her arms. " I barely even know the guy and you're already implying that I have feelings for him?"

"But you two get along so well" Riley stated. "I mean he's what you wanted right? An adventure."

Maya paused. A sudden pain started to swell up in her chest as a thought ran across her mind. _Was Riley only saying this so she would_ _forget about Lucas?_ She had desperately hope that she was wrong and the pain in her chest was just her overthinking something that wasn't there. Her conversation with Stiles ran through her head, she scrunched her eyebrows in confusion as she tried to analyze what he said to her about the triangle.

She shook her head then turned to face her best friend. "No Riley." Maya said with a defeated sigh before leaving the room. Riley stood there flabbergasted at the fact that her best friend had left her without talking to her for the second time today.

Maya went down to the cafe where the group was sitting. She noticed Zay, Farkle, and Lucas was already sitting down at a table directly int he middle of the cafe. The three were talking and engrossed in a conversation. She noticed that Stiles and Josh were sitting in the corner talking and laughing. Maya chewed the inside of her cheek. It seemed like everyone was waiting for her to do something. She could feel the stares making their way to her and she wanted to do something outrageous, something spontaneous. A feeling she hadn't experienced in a while.

"Maya!" Riley called out, wobbling behind her with Smackle attempting to help.

Maya looked behind her shoulder over at Riley who had a frantic look on her face. She looked around the room and realized that everyone was now staring at her. Maya looked over to the table at the end of the corner where she met eyes with the boy who started all of this. Maya looked back over at Riley who was standing in front of her with a confused look on her face.

Evan put the book he was reading down to stare at the three girls standing. Maya looked over at him and met his eyes. It seemed like Maya was trying to understand the boy and what he wanted from them. He was including himself in a situation that wasn't even suppose to happen. If anything, this brown haired boy was adding more confusion to the formula and it was something she didn't want. It was hard enough to find out if her feelings for Lucas were real and now she had another person's feelings to consider other than Lucas and Riley.

Evan stood up front his seat and continued to stare at Maya, looking at her with interest. Maya looked around the room once more and had the sudden urge to yell at everyone to stop staring at her and her friends. She wanted everything to stop and she wanted everyone to stop treating them like this was some sort of reality TV show.

Maya opened her mouth but stopped once she saw Stiles standing in front of her. "Coffee?" He asked smiling at her. Maya closed her mouth and stared at him. "Earth to Maya?" he waved his hands in front of her face. She blinked a few times before nodding and following him to the coffee table.

Maya reached the coffee table and started to pour black coffee into a blue mug. She added a splash of vanilla creamer. She was autopilot while her mind was running through many things. "Maya" Stiles called out again, pushing her mug lower to try and meet her gaze. "You okay there?"

"I know what I wanted to do" Maya started as she looked at him. "But now that I'm back here, I'm more confused as ever" Stiles looked at her for a brief second and finally understood what was running through her mind. "I don't fully understand my feelings yet. I don't know if the feelings I had for Lucas were real or fake because I didn't know who I was. I truly believed that I was lost because I dressed like Riley and I was doing things that weren't me and I drew a stupid purple cat. Then I talked to you, an outsider in this situation. Someone who didn't understand what was going on and what I was going through and someone who didn't understand my groups dynamic or my friendship dynamic with Riley. You told me that me changing was apart of me growing up and me doing better and acting different was me trying to improve my life. And now I'm confused. I'm lost, just as lost as I was when Riley told me that I wasn't me" she scrunched her eyebrows in frustration, her hands gripped tighter on the mug as she felt her eyes tear up from all the frustration she held within her. "I don't know who I am anymore, _again_! i don't know my place and I don't know what to do. My mind is going wild and I don't know if I can take this anymore. I just want everything to stop. I want people to stop watching us like we're their favorite TV show, I want this stupid triangle to end, I want Riley and Lucas to see that this stupid 'girlfriends' thing isn't the right choice. Being in this triangle with her was a stupid choice to begin with. Stiles I'm losing my mind." she managed to get a breathe out before Stiles put an arm around Maya, pulling her closer to his chest.

Maya released a gust of air after he did that. She didn't realize she was crying. She closed her eyes and let herself lean on his shoulder. "I don't know who I am anymore, I don't know what I need." she managed to say.

"Come on," Stiles said, pulling her to walk with him. She sighed and pulled her face up. Letting herself walk on her own while Stiles still had his arm around to her to support her. "You need to talk to someone who's aware of the situation and who knows who you are as a person"

Stiles led Maya away from the cafe, ignoring all the stares they had received from her friends and her entire class. Stiles looked over at Josh who was watching their interaction even though he didn't hear anything Maya was talking to him about. Stiles nodded his head, gesturing that he wanted Josh to go outside with them. Josh got up and followed after him.

Maya sat in front of the tiny fire pit placed outside. Josh and Stiles were sitting in front of her on the other side of the fireplace. "You want Josh to tell me who I am?" Maya asked chuckling. She shook her head as she looked back into the fire.

"Maya," Josh called out. Maya looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. The look on her face told Josh to 'try' and explain to her who she is. "You are the best friend anyone could ever have." Her face dropped but she continued to stare at the boy she once had a crush on. "And maybe it's because your dad left or maybe it's cause you never felt that love but it gave you the biggest capacity for love I have ever seen" he admitted.

"Say that again." Maya asked not breaking eye contact. "Say it again, say it fifty times, say it french!"

Josh chuckled while shaking his head. "You heard me the first time."

"I did" Maya said with a smile. "But you're wrong, Riley is the best friend anyone could ever have. That's not me." Her smile fading.

"Why do you think that?" Stiles asked. Maya looked over at him.

"She's been there for me since I was a kid. She did everything she possibly could for me. She broke the rules for me. She tried to help me and fix me and-" Maya stopped talking once she saw the look on Stiles face. He squinted his eyes at her, like she had said something she was suppose to pay attention to. "What?" Maya looked straight at the two boys who were now occupying the same face.

"You don't need fixing Maya." Josh stated. "You're perfect just the way you are" he said honestly. "I think somewhere along the line, you thought you needed to be fixed and that's where you lost yourself because who you really are is the best friend anyone could ask for. I've seen you do so much to protect Riley because you love her."

"Josh?" Josh just stared at her. "Is that all I am." Maya asked, her voice sounded a bit vulnerable.

"No Maya, you're not just the best friend. You're more than that. Everyone could see it, you just can't." Josh admitted.

"Then why does Riley and everyone else need to fix me all the time" Maya asked, tearing up again. "Am I that damaged that-"

"You're not broken" Stiles interrupted. "You're a working progress from being the person you're destined to be."

Maya chuckled. "Yeah? And who's that?" she asked, not believing him.

"No one will know the answer to that, but you." Stiles stated. "Not even Riley will know the answer to that."

"So what do I do. I don't want to hold this triangle up any longer when I already know Lucas chose Riley." Maya asked, looking at the two boys. "Come on, you two are in college. Give me some experiences and advice to mooch off of"

Stiles rolled his eyes at her before glaring at her. "You already know what you want to do but you're afraid of change." Josh said. Maya stayed silent. "Don't be afraid of change, embrace it."


End file.
